Airtel & Vodafone to activate new connection instantly with e-KYC

BANGALORE, INDIA: Airtel has started rolling out Aadhaar based e-KYC verification in stores following the notification by the Department of Telecom, Government of India, while Vodafone will make it live from August 24.

The e-verification will enable instant activation of mobile connection, by significantly reducing the time taken in the verification process.

Earlier the KYC used to be done by the operators by verifying paper documents like address proof, ID proof, etc, and the customers had to wait 24-48 hours for the activation of new mobile connection.

The digital verification will also eliminate paperwork and benefit the environment.

The e-KYC is live in Airtel operated stores across Delhi NCR and will be rolled out across the country over the next few days.

Ajai Puri, Director – Operations (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel, “A customer can now walk into an Airtel store and walk out with an active mobile connection in a matter of few minutes. The solution also complements the Government’s Digital India vision and will add to Airtel’s green initiatives.”

Customers interested in a new prepaid/postpaid mobile connection can walk in to the stores to submit/verify their Biometrics (iris scan/fingerprints) at the Point of Sale. The details will be instantly matched with the UIDAI database and once the validation is done, the connection will be activated instantly in the name of the customer.

Vodafone India said that it has developed a special app that enables retailers to activate customers using e-KYC. It will be available across 4,500 select Vodafone stores and Vodafone mini stores from Wednesday, August 24 and 10,000 plus Vodafone branded stores beginning September.

“The use of e-KYC will drastically cut down on delays in activating new connections because of infrastructure challenges like power cuts, transporting volumes of paper, lack of photocopying and photography facilities. It will also strengthen the verification process as there will be no room for any manual error,” said Sandeep Kataria, Director-Commercial, Vodafone India.